Matt Damon and his brother Kyle scattered father’s ashes at Fenway Park during World Series
In honour of his dying wishes, Matt Damon and his brother Kyle honoured their late father Kent’s dying wish by scattering some of his ashes at Fenway Park during the 2018 World Series.
Matt Damon and his brother Kyle honoured their late father Kent’s dying wish by scattering some of his ashes at Fenway Park during the 2018 World Series.
Speaking in Believers, a new ESPN documentary about the Boston Red Sox and their long-awaited 2004 World Series win, the 54-year-old actor recalled Kent, who died in 2017 at the age of 74, asked to have part of his remains placed in the stands of the historic ballpark.
Matt said: “My dad, when he was dying, he said one of the places he would like some of his ashes was at Fenway. My dad was a pitcher. Left-handed pitcher.
“I was like, ‘Do you want me to try to get them on the mound?’ And he’s like ‘F*** no.’ He goes ‘Put them in the seats. I never made it to the field’.”
Matt explained the request was fulfilled the following year, when the Red Sox faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
His brother Kyle and Kyle’s two sons attended the first game at Fenway Park in October 2018, 11 months after Kent’s death.
Matt said: “He called me, ’cause he was like, ‘I would never spread Dad’s ashes without you, but I got a little bit of ’em in my pocket here’.
“I said ‘Kyle, man, it’s Chris Sale against Clayton Kershaw. It’s the two best left-handed pitchers in the world at Fenway in the World Series’.
“I’m like, ‘Of course you gotta do it. And it’s you and you’re with his grandsons. You have my absolute blessing’.”
Matt added: “And so he dumped a little thimble of them there, which I think is illegal, but they got swept up with the peanuts. But that’s what my dad wanted. That’s where he wanted them.”
The Believers documentary, produced by Matt and Ben Affleck through their company Artists Equity, features contributions from fellow Bostonians Bill Burr, Donnie Wahlberg, Uzo Aduba, Maria Menounos and Sam Jay.
It examines the impact of the Red Sox’s 2004 championship win, which ended an 86-year drought often referred to as the “Curse of the Bambino”.
Elsewhere in the third episode of the docuseries, Matt recalled how George Clooney helped him reschedule filming for the 2005 drama Syriana so he could attend the Red Sox’s 2004 World Series games after their comeback victory over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
